Take immediate measures to arrest rising inflation - don

By Lusekelo Philemon

1st May 2012

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A Lecturer at Mzumbe University’s Business School, Dr Honest Ngowi has expressed worries over the escalating inflation, calling on the government to come up with immediate measures to scale-down the surging prices of important goods and services.

He was speaking here at the weekend at a training organised by Hakikazi Catalyst, an Arusha-based CSO, which involved more than 200 villagers, local government leaders and NGOs representatives from Arusha, Manyara, Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions.

The don said inflation, which currently stands at 19 percent, adds a huge burden to majority Tanzanians, when it comes to purchasing goods and services.

He suggested on the need for the government to scale-up salaries for employees as one of the short-term measures.

“Another solution is for the government to set prices of important goods and services, such as food, transport and medicines.”

According to Ngowi, giving subsidies in important goods and services as it is in agriculture would also help to scale-down the escalating prices.

As for long-time measures, the economic expert implored the need to come up with sustainable strategies to curb inflation, which include solving power woes, improving road and market infrastructures.

“This will help to improve transport of agricultural inputs to areas which are potential for farming and transport of harvested food crops from production areas to the markets,” he said, adding that food has a big share in contributing to inflation.

“And this is due to its budget weight it poses at family level,” he said.

“Improving irrigation farming will be an ideal solution towards improving food production rather than relying on rain-fed agriculture.”

On strengthening the shilling, the expert said, there is a need to come up with practical measures to address the vice by reducing unnecessary spending and export more than import.

“I am worried by government measures to control inflation. Price increases in

Tanzania are the result of structural economic problems partly due to energy instability which causes under production, and not the amount of money in circulation as the government says,” he said.

One of the participants, Emanuel Bernard from Karangai village in Arusha Region, asked the government to intervene the situation, saying the move would relieve Tanzanians who live below USDI a day.

“I wonder as to why the government has been keeping quite on this matter,” he queried.